Tire Vibration tripping Knock Sensor???

[Mike1980B]

OK here goes. Hopefully nobody thinks Im loony after this but Im being 100% serious! When I purchased my truck 7 months ago, it had LT245/75/16E Goodyear Wranglers on it. well about 2 months ago I started to develop a front end vibration. which progressively had gotten worse. I dont do much Highway driving in my Tahoe, but the few times i had to take it, I would get a misfire code, and knock sensor code, EVERY SINGLE TIME I went over 60mph. Well about 3 weeks ago, i found a set of used esky obs wheels and tires on Craigslist. Mastercraft Corser HTR in a standard 265/70/16. Since the Wheels wouldnt fit my tahoe in the rear due to the rear disk brakes, I had the tires swapped onto my steel wheels. Ride quality is 250% smoother, softer, and quieter. I have had my tahoe on the highway 7 times now at 85+ mph with 0 CEL codes. No more knock sensor issues! My question is... Can a Tire/wheel issue cause enough Harmonics in the Chassis to actually falsely trip the sensors? I know it seems unlogical, but I truely believe that's what was happening in my case. What do you guys think?

 

[NathanJax]

I think you're nuts...

 

[jdpber]

one those old tire could have had a broken belt causing an imbalance.. and the ruff ride. as for the code no clue.. but sounds like a tire needed balance or you have a seperated belt in the tire..

 

[TnTahoe]

based on what you said I would have to assume so

 

[Gzes]

You ******* looney!!! Jk yea a bad tire causes weird shit to happen

 

[electro]

Which knock sensor is it? What was the code exactly?

If its the common bad one, the rear bank ks maybe its on the verge of going bad and the vibrating was just shaking it up and because of its poor condition its acting funny when it is vibrated erractically. Now you have nice new tires and its sitting still waiting to corode further before it set a low voltage code.

Guess we will wait and see.

OR have you replace either of the knock sensors before? In which case please disregard my ramble.

 

[imi4tth3w]

if they haven't been replaced, i'd do it anyways. causes retardation in your timing and loss of engine efficiency and mpg. also gives you a chance to clean out the intake ports on the head while the intake manifold is off.

 

[russellshireman]

i just dealt with a similar issue. misfires over small bumps in the road in a silverado. knock and misfire codes. occasional stalls. pulled the intake and knock sensor plugs, and the rear sensor port was full of water and corrosion. to the point of having to remove the valley cover. not a fun job. got it back together (with a new harness for the knock sensors-always do this) and still an occasional miss over bumps. turned out to be a bad chassis ground.

I hope this helps. if I were you I would glance over your ground connections on the block, frame, and the body. if you start having other issues dive in to those knock sensors. always start simple and cheap, then work your way towards the more cmplicated and expensive options